Mandrel



Sept. 13, 1960 P. M. RICE 2,952,418

MANDREL Filed May 11, 1955 i -1. 5 u wj I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR. P404 M H0:

- ArraQ/m'ys MANDREL laul M. Rice, Cumberland, Md, assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 11, 1955, Ser. No. 507,692

7 Claims. (Cl. 24272.1)

This invention relates to the winding of filamentary material and relates more particularly to mandrels em-- ployed in the winding of filamentary textile material.

In one type of winding machine commonly used in the textile industry, yarn is wound on a yarn package support, such as a cardboard tube, mounted for free rotation and driven by frictional engagement with a suitable rotating drive roll. The tube, or other yarn package support, is generally carried on a device known as a mandrel. This mandrel comprises a mechanism for gripping the interior of the tube, which mechanism is supported for free rotation about an arbor. The arbor is in turn supported on a pivoted arm, or similar structure, which permits the mandrel and tube to move relatively to the drive roll as the windings of yarn are built up on the tube, and which also permits the mandrel and tube to be disengaged from the drive roll to stop the winding of yarn on said tube.

In the use of the mandrels employed in the prior art there has been considerable ditliculty with uneven winding due to the fact that the mandrels and the tubes thereon did not run concentrically about their arbors. Also, with many of the mandrels the operations of donning and dotfing the yarn tube have been relatively compliatent ice and showing the parts of the mandrel moved to the expanded position, in which the bars of the mandrel are firmly engaged with the yarn tube.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 66 of Fig. 5,

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 5, and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one part of the mandrel, namely a nut carrying an operating handle.

Like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to Fig. 1, reference numeral 11 designates a cardboard yarn tube adapted to be mounted on a mandrel indicated generally by reference numeral 12. The mandrel 12 comprises a generally cylindrical barrel 13 mounted for free rotation on a suitably supported arbor 14 by means of bearings 16, 17 (Figs. 3 and 5) of the grease seal type. A pair of rings 16a, 17a fitted into circumferential grooves in the barrel i3 restrain the barrel from axial movement relative to the arbor 14.

The outer surface of the barrel 13 is provided with a number of circumferentially spaced longitudinal grooves 18 in each of which a bar 19 is slidably arranged, with the sides of the bars fitting closely against the sides of the grooves. For the purpose: of preventing the bars 19 from leaving the grooves 18 there are provided a plurality of screws 20 threaded into holes opening on the bottoms 21 of the grooves. The shanks of the screws 20 pass through slots 22 in the bars 19, while the enlarged heads 23 of the screws are recessed in said cated and time consuming. Another problem has been i the difficulty of lubricating the mandrel without causing soilage of yarn.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a novel mandrel which will be free from the foregoing and other disadvantages.

Other objects of this invention rw'll be apparent from the following detailed description and claims.

According to one aspect of this invention the new and improved mandrel comprises a member mounted for free rotation on an arbor, said member having surfaces extending longitudinally of the axis of said arbor and inclined to said axis, tapered bars mounted for longitudinal movement on said surfaces in contact therewith, said bars having outer surfaces adapted to operatively engage the inside of a yarn package support, and means for moving said tapered bars longitudinally along said surfaces to cause outward movement of said bars into operative engagement with the inside of said yarn package support.

. In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of this invention,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the mandrel, showing also a portion of a yarn tube before the latter is placed on the mandrel,

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the mandrel showing a groove in the barrel thereof and a bar which is adapted to be received in said groove,

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3--3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 44 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of Fig. 3 but showing the yarn tube mounted on the mandrel slots, said heads being adapted to engage ledges 24 in said slots.

The bars are adapted to be pressed tightly against the bottoms 21 of the grooves by means of coil springs 28 encircling the assemblage of bars 19 and barrel 13. Appropriate portions 29 and 31 of the bars 19 and barrel 13, respectively, are recessed for receiving the springs 28 so that said springs do not project beyond the outer faces of said bars and barrel.

The bottom 21 of each of the grooves 18 is inclined at an angle to the axis of the arbor 14 (Figs. 3 and 5), while each bar 19 is tapered at a corresponding angle so that the outer face of each bar is parallel to the axis of the arbor when the inside faces 32 of said bars are pressed against the bottom of the grooves. Accordingly, any longitudinal sliding movement of the bars 19 in the grooves 18 will necessarily be accompanied by a radial movement thereof, inwardly or outwardly depend ing on the direction of said longitudinal sliding movement. The thickness of the bars 19 is such that when they are at one end of their sliding path, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, their outer faces are disposed at, or just inwardly of, the surface of the barrel 13 so that the assembly, or mandrel 12, is in contracted condition, while when they are moved to the other end of their path, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, their outer faces project beyond the surface of the barrel so that the mandrel is in expanded condition.

Each bar 19 is provided at one end thereof with a pin 34 (Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6) extending radially toward the axis of the arbor and passing through an aperture 36 (Fig. 2) in the barrel 13. The inner ends of the pins as are received within spaced apertures 37 in a ring 38, mounted in the circumferential groove 39 of a sleeve 40. The sleeve 40 is slidably mounted within the barrel 13 and is grooved at 41 to receive the ends of the bars 19. For ease of assembly the apertured ring 33 is made up of two semicircular portions joined together.

It will be apparent that sliding movement of the sleeve 40 parallel to the axis of the arbor 14 will cause sliding movement of the bars 19 and consequent expansion or contraction of the mandrel. The sleeve 40 is normally urged to a position in which the mandrel is in expanded condition by means of coil springs 42 disposed between said sleeve and the barrel 13, the springs 42 being received in spaced apertures 43 (Fig. 7) in said barrel.

In order to move the sleeve 41 so as to contract the mandrel there is provided a spirally threaded nut 44, having a radial handle 46, mounted on a corresponding ly threaded portion 47 of the arbor 14. A portion of the nut 44 is adapted to be received within the sleeve 40, without contact therewith, while a flange 48 on the nut is provided with a facing 49 of friction material, such as vulcanized fiber, adapted to be brought into engagement with one side of the sleeve 40. When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. manual movement of the handle 46 in one direction will cause the nut 44 to move along the arbor 14 so that the facing 49 comes in contact with the sleeve 40. Further movement of the handle 46 in the same direction moves the nut 44 and sleeve 40 against the force of the springs 42 and thereby moves the bars 19 to the contracted position and maintains them in this position.

In operation, when the parts are in contracted position the operator slides an empty tube ll over the mandrel until it abuts against a shoulder 51 on the barrel 13, then turns the handle 46 to permit the parts to move to expanded position so that the tube is firmly engaged by the outer faces of the bars 19, as shown in Fig. 5, and starts the winding of yarn around the tube. When the tube has been fully wound the operator turns the handle in the opposite direction to contract the mandrel. At the same time the contact between the facing 49 and the sleeve 41 acts to stop the rotation of said sleeve and the connected bars 19 and barrel 13.

The structure of the mandrel of this invention lends itself readily to precise machining to insure the desired concentricity. Thus, it is preferred, after the parts of the mandrel have been assembled, in the contracted condition, to mount the assembly on a master arbor on centers on an engine lathe or grinder and there to precision machine the outer surfaces of the rods 19 so that they are concentric with the arbor 14.

By the use of the mandrel of this invention the difficulties of uneven winding because of eccentricity of mandrels and tubes have been overcome. Also, the operations of donning and dofling the tube are relatively simple and easy. Soilage of the yarn by lubricant presents no problem because of the use of the grease seal type of bearings and the positioning of the bearings within the barrel 13.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is merely given by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A mandrel adapted for the mounting of a yarn package support, comprising a member mounted for free rotation on an arbor, said member having surfaces extending longitudinally of the axis of said arbor and inclined to said axis, tapered bars mounted for longitudinal movement on said surfaces in contact therewith, said bars having outer surfaces adapted to engage the inside of a yarn package support, resilient means for moving said tapered bars longitudinally along said surfaces in one direction to cause outward movement of said bars into operative engagement" with the inside of said yarn package support, and manually operable means mounted on said arbor for moving said bars longitudinally in the opposite direction, to release said yarn package support, said manually operable means including a manually operable member which is supported by the arbor and which does not rotate with the mandrel.

2. A mandrel adapted for the mounting of a yarn package support, said mandrel comprising a grooved barrel mounted for free rotation on an arbor, means restraining said barrel from axial movement relative to said arbor, the grooves of said barrel extending longitudinally of said barrel and having bottom surfaces inclined to the axis of said arbor, tapered bars having outer surfaces adapted to operatively engage the inside of a yarn package support, said bars being disposed longitudinally of said axis of said arbor and mounted for longitudinal movement in said grooves in contact with said inclined bottom surfaces, and means for moving said tapered bars longitudinally to cause outward movement of said bars into operative engagement with the inside of said yarn package support.

3. A mandrel adapted for the mounting of a yarn package support, said mandrel comprising a grooved barrel mounted for free rotation on an arbor, the grooves of said barrel extending longitudinally of said barrel and having bottom surfaces inclined to the axis of said arbor, tapered bars having outer surfaces adapted to operatively engage the inside of a yarn package support, said bars being disposed longitudinally of said axis of said arbor and mounted for sliding longitudinal movement in said grooves, spring means for maintaining said tapered bars in close contact with said inclined bottom surfaces, a sleeve mounted for movement along said barrel in operative engagement with said bars for moving said bars longitudinally, spring means urging said sleeve in a direction to cause longitudinal movement together with resulting outward movement of said tapered bars into operative engagement with the inside or" said yarn package support, and manually operable means for urging said sleeve in the opposite direction to retract said bars from operative engagement with said yarn package support.

4. A mandrel adapted for the mounting of a yarn package support, said mandrel comprising a grooved barrel mounted for free rotation on an arbor, the grooves of said barrel extending longitudinally of said barrel and having bottom surfaces inclined to the axis of said arbor, tapered bars having outer surfaces adapted to operatively engage the inside of a yarn package support, said bars being disposed longitudinally of said axis of said arbor and mounted for sliding longitudinal movement in said grooves, and means for moving said tapered bars longitudinally to cause outward movement of said bars into operative engagement with the inside of said yarn package support, said moving means including movable Lneans positioned Within said barrel for engaging said ars.

5. A mandrel adapted for the mounting of a yarn package support, said mandrel comprising a grooved barrel mounted for free rotation on an arbor, the grooves of said barrel extending longitudinally of said barrel and having bottom surfaces inclined to the axis of said arbor, tapered bars having outer surfaces adapted to operatively engage the inside of a yarn package support, said bars being disposed longitudinally of said axis of said arbor and mounted for sliding longitudinal movement in said grooves, helical spring means encircling said barrel for urging said bars radially into close contact with said inclined bottom surfaces, said bars and said barrel having grooves for receiving said helical spring means, and means for moving said tapered bars longitudinally to cause outward movement of'said bars into operative engagement with the inside of said yarn pack age support.

6. A mandrel adapted for the mounting of a yarn package support, said mandrel comprising a grooved barrel mounted for free rotation on an arbor, the grooves of said barrel extending longitudinally of said barrel and having bottom surfaces inclined to the axis of said arbor, tapered bars having outer surfaces adapted to operatively engage the inside of a yarn package support, said bars being disposed longitudinally of said axis of said arbor and mounted for sliding longitudinal movement in said grooves, spring means for maintaining said tapered bars in close contact with said inclined bottom surfaces, pins on said bars, said pins extending through apertures in said barrel, a sleeve mounted for movement within said barrel in operative engagement with said pins for moving said bars longitudinally, spring means urging said sleeve in a direction to cause longitudinal movement together with resulting outward movement of said tapered bars into operative engagement with the inside of said yarn package support, and a manually operable nut threaded on said arbor for moving said sleeve in the opposite direction to retract said bars from operative engagement with said yarn package support.

7. A mandrel adapted for the mounting of a yarn package support, said mandrel comprising a grooved barrel mounted for free rotation on an arbor, said grooves extending longitudinally of said barrel and having bottom surfaces inclined to the axis of said arbor, tapered bars having outer surfaces adapted to operatively engage the inside of a yarn package support, said bars being disposed longitudinally of said axis of said arbor and mounted for sliding longitudinal movement in said grooves, helical spring means encircling said barrel, and received in grooves in said barrel and said bars, for urging said bars radially into close contact with said inclined bottom surfaces, pins on said bars, said pins extending through apertures in said barrel, a sleeve mounted for movement within said barrel in operative engagement with said pins for moving said bars longitudinally, spring means urging said sleeve in a direction to cause longitudinal movement together with resulting outward movement of said tapered bars into operative engagement with the inside of said yarn package support, and a manually operable nut threaded on said arbor for moving said sleeve in the opposite direction to retract said bars from operative engagement with said yarn package support, said nut having a surface of frictional material for engaging said sleeve to stop the rotation of said mandrel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,527,539 Damon Feb. 24, 1925 1,627,729 Dingee May 10, 1927 1,928,979 Levison Oct. 3, 1933 1,946,455 Davis Feb. 6, 1934 2,526,772 Reynolds (Oct. 24, 1950 

